Those Three Little Words
by HowardSqueakers
Summary: Tony can't seem to say I love you to Ziva. He hears a song on the radio that gives him the courage to say it. Based off of Toby Keith's "Me Too."


– ME TOO –

I was driving to work, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel along with the beat of the fast country song on the radio. I still hadn't wrapped my head around the fact that Ziva liked this stuff.

_Crazy ninja chick + country music = good thing? Weird._

The song ended and a commercial came on. I tuned it out and began thinking.

_That's probably why I love her so much. Not that I could ever tell her in those words at the beginning. I can barely say them now._

The next song that came on was unfamiliar to me but the slowness seemed to be a nice change from the fast songs I had been listening to since I found out Ziva's love for the genre.

"_If I send you roses for no reason at all  
If out of the blue I stop and give you a call  
Once in a while it's breakfast in bed  
And then pull the covers back up over our heads"_

_Wow…that summed up the first two weeks of our relationship in the first four lines of the song._

I could remember those days like it was yesterday. (It nearly was, too. Ziva and I had only been together for about three months.)

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_I left the roses on her desk on a Wednesday morning. She'd seemed to be having a rough couple days and I thought they would help. (So maybe I _did_ have a reason) The card was simple. It said "I thought these flowers and the fact I'm thinking of you would make you smile."_

_Thankfully, she did. My ego was given a secret boost that no one in that room ever found out about._

_That Friday I decided to see what she thought. I called her, hoping she wasn't with a date. When she answered, I asked her over for dinner – cooked by me – and a movie. To my surprise, she eagerly accepted. _

_We spent the night talking and drinking wine. (We never did watch that movie.)When she stood up to leave, I pulled her close and kissed her. She kissed back and it led to "other" activities. We promised to be in for more than just one night and that was the end of our conversation on the topic for a while. _

_The next morning – Saturday had finally come – I woke up before her. I didn't disturb her as I got up and went to cook breakfast. I brought the tray back into the bedroom and set it on the bed. I sat down next to her and kissed her cheek softly. _

_"What is this, Tony?" she asked sleepily. _

_"Breakfast. I was hungry but you looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you."_

_She kissed me quickly before turning her attention to the food. Once the food was eaten and the dishes dealt with, I pulled the covers back over our heads and slept. We spent almost the entire weekend in bed together, only leaving if we really needed to._

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I thought more about my love as the song continued.

"_If I call in sick just to stay home with you  
I want you to know why I do what I do  
It's my way of sayin' what I can't express  
But I want you to know girl I'm doin' my best"_

_When she'd gotten sick about a month back, I'd called Jenny and told her my girlfriend was sick so I couldn't come to work today. I also told her that Ziva wasn't coming in either because she was sick too. (Let's say our director put two and two together.) Once we got back to work the next day, we were called to her office together. Saying I was nervous would be an understatement._

_"So, both of you were off yesterday," Jenny said, eyeing us. "You were sick, Ziva I understand. Get back to Gibbs. He probably needs you._

_Once Ziva closed the door, she continued, "But why, DiNozzo, is your current girlfriend now more important than your job?" _

_From the look on the director's face, I knew a lie would not get me out of this unscathed. I sighed and began to tell her the entire story. _

_"You love her," she said once I was done. "That's why you're acting so different. Am I right?"_

_I nodded. "I just haven't gathered the courage to tell her the exact words yet. But I show it."_

_"Why haven't you told her?"_

_"You know about me and my commitment issues."_

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_Oh I'm just a man that's the way I was made  
I'm not too good at sayin' what you need me to say  
It's always right there on the tip of my tongue  
It might go unsaid but it won't go undone  
So when those three little words come so easy to you  
I hope you know what I mean when I say, me too  
_

"Wow," I said, my voice sounding weird in the empty car. "That fits me _very _well."

I still wasn't able to say those three, sometimes relationship ending, words. I usually said "Me too" when she said it or nodded awkwardly and tried to change the subject. _Who knew that our favorite Mossad officer would have an easier time saying…those words than me? Damn, I can't even _think _the words. How am I gonna pull this off?_

I felt the familiar weight in my jacket pocket as I parked the car but kept the radio playing. I really had to know if the rest of this song fit us that well. The plan that was forming in my head revolved around this song.

If you should wake up and catch me watchin' you sleep  
And I break the silence by kissin' your cheek  
If I whisper somethin' you don't understand  
Don't make me repeat it I don't know if I can

_That fits us too. Damn, when was this song written? Yesterday? It sounds just like us._

One night, after we were "together," I couldn't sleep because I was so amazed by how peaceful she looked. Her hair was spread out every which way – which I had never seen before – and she had a small smile on her face. I resisted the urge to run my fingers through it because I didn't want her to pull her gun on me if I woke her up again. Even though we had been together for a while, I still found her frightening with a gun, sometimes without one too.

She woke suddenly and looked at me curiously. I could see the question in her face and I had no idea how to answer. So, I leaned towards her, kissed her cheek, and whispered "I love against her hair." She didn't understand what I said but I could've sworn I saw her smile as she laid her head on my shoulder and went back to sleep.

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I listened through the chorus again, just to make sure I knew all the words. I got out of my car and made my way through the garage to get to the elevator. When the doors opened, I got in and rode it to the bullpen, reviewing the words over and over in my head.

I took a couple deep breaths before stepping out of the elevator. Everyone was already there, making me second guess what I was planning to do.

_Don't back down now, DiNozzo! Gibbs is probably gonna kick your ass anyway once he finds out. _

I took another couple deep breaths after setting down my bag before I walked the three feet to Ziva's desk and sat down on the corner of it until she looked up from the file she was reading.

"Yes, Tony? What's going on?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you something but, I need to know if you love me first."

"I love you. You know that."

"Okay, now, this may sound really bad, but I need you to listen through 'til the end. Alright?"

She tensed a little. I saw her eyes dart to the bowl of paperclips on the desk. I grabbed her hand before she could impale me with any of them.

"No, I'm not ending us or anything but I need you to know why I can't say what you just said."

I cleared my throat and began singing quietly.

"Oh I'm just a man that's the way I was made  
I'm not too good at sayin' what you need me to say  
It's always right there on the tip of my tongue  
It might go unsaid but it won't go undone  
So when those three little words come so easy to you  
I hope you know what I mean when I say, me too"

I moved off of her desk and got down on one knee next to her chair. She seemed to know what was going to happen – I had introduced her to enough movies where this scene happened – and tears formed in her eyes.

"Ziva David, I know we've only been together for three and a half months and Gibbs will probably kill me for this but I don't care at the moment. I love and want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't care how cheesy this sounds. Will you marry me?"  
She smiled and nodded. I put the ring on her hand and moved up to kiss her.

"What are you two doing?" Gibbs asked. "I know it's not your jobs."

I tried to hide my smile as I looked at Ziva. "They're gonna find out eventually. Might as well be now." She nodded in agreement so we stood in front of Gibbs's desk hand in hand.

"Uh, Gibbs, we have something to tell you."

"I already know, Ziva. You're getting married."

"How did yo-?" I started to ask.

"Four wives, DiNozzo. That means four proposals. I think I can recognize the reaction now. Don't let it affect your jobs and keep anything physical _outside _of the office and I won't get Vance to transfer either of you out of my team."

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Later that day, once Ziva and I got home, we sat together on the couch talking about anything and everything. We had stayed on safe topics – movies, old cases, the growing sexual tension between our boss and favorite forensic scientist – until she changed the subject to some events a little more recent.

"Why did you ask me to marry you today?"

I laughed lightly. Until I realized she was completely serious.

"That's easy. It's because I love you and couldn't stand to wait another day not knowing you wouldn't, one day, be mine forever."

She sat there, stunned. "Do you realize that you just proved yourself wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just said you loved me. In those words."

I shrugged. "Maybe it's because I am now sure that you're not going to run off once I said it."

She laughed. "I said it first. I actually thought _you _were going to run off after I said it."

She turned around so that, instead of sitting on my lap with her back to me, she was facing me.

She just sat there staring at me until I spoke.

"I love you, Ziva."

She smiled before she kissed and said, "Me too."


End file.
